Scripture: Acts 11:2-3
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?”
Thought for the Day: WHY—It is an interesting word. It can be the beginning of an inquisitive exploration. It can demonstrate a spiritual appetite that hungers for fresh sustenance and new insights. It can be the first step through a doorway by which we travel into worlds previously unseen. Or – and this is an important ‘Or’ – Or, it can be life-stifling, door-closing, relationship-ending. It is all in the tone, and though we cannot always tell the tone of the written word, we can probably assume within this text an arrogant, almost rhetorical tone with eyes rolling. Their inflection probably conveyed a sense of disbelief, assuming no value to be found in anyone who was uncircumcised.
It is easy to judge some of the characters in scripture as we view them more as caricatures that look nothing like anyone we know, but is the eye rolling sarcasm we’ve imagined in this passage all that dissimilar to our actions? Has our disapproving and overly critical thinking brought out the wrong WHY? When we feel ourselves devaluing someone with our tone of voice, stripping them of dignity with the shake of our head, our WHY should be asking the more critical, two part question: WHY is it that God loves this person that I have so easily tossed to the curb, and more importantly, WHY does God continue to love me when I do such a nonChrist-like thing? Those are the questions that are the beginning of an inquisitive journey like no other.
Prayer: Holy God, as I ask Why?, I pray that it is with a joyful yearning to know your grace and know others more fully through that grace. Amen.
THIS SUNDAY
Celebrating Our Youth
YOUTH SUNDAY
You are invited to the chapel at 8am this Sunday for a 10-15 minute period of prayer led by two of our Elders. Each Sunday, two of the Elders will offer this opportunity. The time will change week-to-week to accommodate our three services (prayer time at 8am, 9:15 or 10:45am depending on the week). You will NOT be asked to pray out loud, so don’t be intimidated by this opportunity. It is simply to bathe our Sunday mornings at Cypress Creek Christian Church in prayer.
